Hands-free telecommunication for elderly persons suffering from hearing deficiencies

Speech communication is the most natural form of human interaction. Communication by means of telephones, mobile phones or video-conference systems is common nowadays especially amongst younger persons. In the past years, also a growing amount of elderly people has started to extensively use communication systems since more and more people live apart from their relatives, friends or acquaintances. However, especially elderly people suffer from hearing loss, which often prevents them from using acoustic communication devices. While approximately every second European adult of age 65+ has a hearing loss that requires treatment, only the minority actually wears hearing aids for different reasons. To tackle this problem, this contribution deals with a personalized and adaptable communication system that enhances the acoustic signal and incorporates the individual hearing loss of a hearing-impaired person. By this, the typical elderly user is enabled to take part in natural communication again.